1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to drumstick carriers and, more particularly, to a foldable drumstick carrier apparatus and method, the drumstick carrier being mountable on a stool while supporting a plurality of drumsticks in a plurality of accessible positions and being foldable to provide secure and convenient transportation and/or storage of the drumsticks.
2. The Prior Art
The musical entertainment industry depends heavily upon the musical contribution of a drum player or drummer to provide the desired sound effect for an orchestra or a musical band. Customarily, the drummer utilizes a plurality of percussion instruments arrayed in easily accessible locations around the drummer's position. These percussion instruments, include various types of drums, cymbals, bells, and the like, and are struck by the drummer in a predetermined rhythmic pattern to create the desired sound effect. In striking these percussion instruments, the drummer uses a variety of drumsticks, many of which are specially configured for a specific function. Accordingly, it is common practice for a drummer to have a variety of types of drumsticks readily available in an easily accessible format. Further, the accidental loss of a drumstick through slippage from the grasp of the drummer or even breakage of the drumstick requires that the drummer have immediate access to a replacement drumstick.
Historically, it has been the practice for a drummer to have a selection of drumsticks available in what is referred to in the art as a stick bag. A conventional stick bag is generally configured as a pouch segmented into a plurality of pockets into which the various types of drumsticks are segregated. The pouch is foldable for security purposes and convenience in transporting the drumsticks. The pouch is usually suspended from the side of an adjacent drum so as to be more or less readily available to the drummer during a performance.
However, unless two stick bags are used, the stick bag is mounted to either the right or the left side of the drummer. This means that if it is necessary to replace the drumstick in, say, the left hand but the stick bag is mounted to the right side of the drummer, the drummer must shift drumsticks between hands in order to retrieve the desired drumstick with the right hand and then transfer that drumstick to the left hand. This activity is highly undesirable during periods of play since it is a readily noticeable interruption in the music supplied by the drummer.
Further, the conventional stick bag is a simple carrier with a series of open pockets into which the drumsticks are inserted. The depth of the pockets is sufficient to retain the drumsticks against loss during handling of the stick bag which means that the drumsticks are not necessarily readily available to be quickly retrieved by the drummer.
In view of the foregoing it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide a stick bag for drumsticks whereby the drumsticks are readily available to each hand of the drummer. Another advancement in the art would be to provide a stool cover for the drummer's stool, the stool cover including pockets on each side of the stool cover with the pockets holding the drumsticks in a readily accessible manner. It would also be advantageous to provide platforms in the pockets of the stool cover so as to present preselected drumsticks in an even more readily accessible position by having them elevated incrementally above the other drumsticks in the pocket. Such a novel apparatus and method is disclosed and claimed herein.